


try again, try again, try again

by Kittenixie



Series: the clover chronicles [2]
Category: Smile For Me (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, M/M, and they and putunia have basically adopted each other as siblings lol, but that's like as dark as it gets, children being gremlins, fk's name is clover and they have developmental speech dyspraxia, kind of pre-slash for kamal/habit because they both still need to get it together, there are a couple mentions of the big event because it's just. important to know about
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-11
Updated: 2019-08-11
Packaged: 2020-08-18 19:17:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20196727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kittenixie/pseuds/Kittenixie
Summary: Clover and Putunia are practically siblings, but their dads don't quite "get along", per se.They're looking to change that in the only way they know how; by tricking them into the same restaurant table and forcing them into the worst, most awkward talk ever.





	try again, try again, try again

**Author's Note:**

> putunia & clover are siblings in my fics and if you come near me shipping them i will take your bones

"Hey, you know what would be a  _ really good _ birthday gift?"

Clover tipped their head to one side, shifting on their bean bag to face Putunia. She was on her side nearby, resting upside-down in her designated red bean bag. She flipped over onto her stomach, likely so she'd have less trouble understanding them. " _ What? _ " They signed once she was situated, crossing their legs.

"We should get our dads to make up." She waved her hand to stop them when they brought their hands up to reply. "I know you don't think we should rush it, but I think they just need a little push, you know?"

Clover hummed, tapping their fingers against their arm. " _ What kind of push? _ " Because it  _ was _ going to be her ninth birthday soon, and they wanted her to be happy. Putunia grinned.

"I think," she began, lowering her voice conspiratorially, "if we can get them in the same room, talking, they'll start to make up." Clover raised a brow, and she sighed. "They're not gonna get better if they don't talk to each other, y'know? And I think, if Kamal sees he's really trying, and getting better, he'll come around."

Clover bit the inside of their cheek, silently watching her busy hands while she spoke. It wasn't sign language, she was just an animated person. It still helped them understand how she was feeling, though. " _ Maybe, _ " they conceded. " _ He asks, sometimes. He does care. It's just hard. _ " Putunia nodded solemnly.

The topic was less stepped around now that Putunia was a little older. Nobody liked talking about it. Clover couldn't remember some of it. The nightmares certainly didn't let them forget the rest. It had taken them a few weeks to talk to Habit again, and though they'd forgiven him for what happened,  _ they _ weren't the one who had to drag an unconscious ten year old to the ER because they'd overdosed on laughing gas.

They weren't sure how he explained that one to the doctors. They didn't ask. They were better now. Regardless, it was no wonder he was still a bit wary of Habit. But it could be fixed, Clover thought. If it couldn't, Kamal would never let them go to Habit's house.

" _ Okay. Yeah. I think it's worth a shot _ ," they agreed, humming in thought. " _ Let me think a while. I can come up with something. _ " Putunia lit up, obviously a little relieved that they were on her side.

"Okay. We can do it," she said with a grin.

* * *

"I think I have a plan," Clover said softly, slowly. Their speech was much improved, but they did still have to put a lot of thought into their mouth movements. They still greatly preferred sign, but this was definitely easier when Putunia couldn't see or when their hands were busy. Like now, while they prepared to braid flowers into her hair like she asked.

"Huh?" Putunia blinked, though she forced herself to keep her head still while Clover brushed her hair. Instead, she flapped her hands a bit to keep moving.

"Remember?" They paused shortly. "You wanted to get our dads to talk. I have a plan."

"You do?!" Putunia jolted in an attempt to turn to look at Clover, but she only succeeded in getting her hair sharply tugged. She yelped, and Clover let go, wincing in sympathy.

"Sorry, sorry!" They said quickly, a bit too fast for their brain to process their mouth movements. It was slurred, but Putunia was fairly used to that.

"Ow. You're fine, that was my fault. Ow." She rubbed at her scalp, turning to face Clover. "You- you said you had a plan? What's up?"

Clover set the brush down so they could sign instead. " _ Okay, so stick with me here. I ask Kamal to go to a restaurant. You ask Habit to go to the same one. I'll convince Kamal to sit with you two and we'll act like it was a coincidence. And then once they're situated we can sneak off and let them talk. _ "

"That's… Well," she laughed, brushing her hair behind her shoulder. "You think it'll work?"

" _ Only one way to find out, I guess. If it doesn't, we'll come up with something else. _ " Putunia nodded slowly, smile forming on her face.

"Yeah, you're right. Let's try it, why not?" It wasn't like it could get too much worse, right? It was worth a shot.

* * *

And so that was how Clover ended up here at a not-really-fancy restaurant with Kamal, hoping their acting skills were up to snuff. They glanced at the crowds, but with any luck, that'd just make it easier for them to sneak off when it was time. And it wasn't too far from Putunia and Clover's favorite cafe, so once they were out, they could just head there.

"C'mon, little buddy. Let's go find a table," Kamal said with a light nudge to their arm. They nodded, smiling. And in they went.

They were heading to find one when they spotted Putunia and Habit. It was hard not to, Habit was tall and Putunia just innately stood out to them. She noticed them almost immediately and waved, grin on her face as she leaned over to talk to Habit. Clover tugged Kamal's sleeve, and he stopped, looking down at them.

" _ Putunia and Habit are over there, can we sit with them? _ " To Kamal's credit, he  _ mostly _ kept a neutral expression. Something flickered through his eyes that Clover was watching too closely to miss, but they couldn't quite identify it.

To their relief, he didn't take too long to answer. "Sure, kiddo," he replied, rubbing the back of his neck as they headed to the table. Habit waved, a bit of a nervous smile on his face. After all, it wasn't like he and Kamal were on the best terms after everything. Putunia scrambled from her seat to sit next to Habit, sliding into the booth. Clover made sure that, as planned, they were both on these outside of the seats so they could leave when the time came. The formation was specially intended for this meeting, as the table would be a buffer between the two and it wasn't too suspicious for Putunia to switch sides.

" _ Hi Putunia, hi Habit, _ " they signed, then tapped their fingers on the table. " _ Funny running into you here. _ "

"Yeah, it's a real coincidence, huh?" Putunia kicked her legs, though controlled her movements enough so that she wouldn't be kicking Clover under the table. Much appreciated.

Kamal gave the pair a Look, brows raised. Habit cleared his throat. "So, Kamal, it's… been a while. How are you?" Kamal's attention had snapped to him as soon as he'd heard his name.

"Ah… Fine. I mean, good. You know. Therapy. Work. Stuff." Kamal coughed into his fist. Putunia cringed ever so slightly while the adults weren't looking. Clover nodded in agreement.

"That's good," Habit replied with a slightly stiff nod. "Things are. Um. We're doing well." He let out a nervous chuckle.

"Uh. Sorry, if you're not, um. Comfortable with us sitting here, we can--"

"No, no, you're fine!" Habit assured with a smile. "It's been a long time, I'd like to catch up."

Putunia shot up. "Clover can you help me find the bathroom?" She said quickly.

"The bathroom is right over there, there's a sign--" Kamal began. Clover was already up, hands raised to shove out an explanation.

"Can't talk gotta go bye!" She grabbed Clover by the wrist and dragged them off. Clover just decided to go with it. Putunia stopped near the front doors (opposite direction of the bathroom, but neither of them had the foresight to just hide in there), letting out a wheeze.

"Sorry. I could  _ not _ deal with that."

Clover nodded sympathetically. " _ It was pretty bad. But they did talk some. Maybe it'll still work _ ."

"God, I hope so. I can't deal with this a second time." She ran her hands through her hair, taking a deep breath. "Wanna go back in and try to eavesdrop?" Clover nodded. And so, they slunk back in, hiding near the table. Out of sight, but in earshot.

"... notice that they went the wrong way?" Kamal sounded a little amused.

"Yes, well, I think we've been set up," Habit replied with a chuckle.

"Oh, thank God I'm not the only one who noticed," Kamal laughed. "I realized when Clover tapped. They only do that when they're nervous or thinking or whatever else."

"They're not the best liars, are they?" Habit asked. The two let out some fond chuckles, then went silent for a few moments. "... I'm sorry, Kamal. For everything. Making fun of your teeth and putting you through that and everything else." He paused, sighing softly. "I am going to therapy and trying to be better. But I understand if you're still angry. If you don't want to see me."

"I'm not…" he paused. Clover was familiar enough to know he was probably running his fingers through his hair. A nervous tick, like their tapping. "I don't… thank you for the apology, Habit. But I'm not sure I was ever…  _ angry _ with you. Worried, upset, hurt, yeah. But I wasn't really mad." Another pause. "I mean, it's just… I saw them the day of the Big Event. Nobody has any idea just how…" he trailed off, sighing deeply. "You see a kid like that and you just, you just realize it, don't you? Like, they looked so small. And for a while, all I could think was, 'what if they'd spent a few more minutes in there', and… I blamed you."

The table was silent for a moment, before Kamal continued. "And then I… kind of blamed me. I mean, what kind of assistant was I, sending in a ten year old to confront you? And yeah, it worked, but what if… if it hadn't?" Kamal stopped for a few moments, then laughed. "Sorry, you  _ really _ didn't ask for my life story, huh?"

"No, it's… it's okay." Habit let out a contemplative hum. "I… You know, I didn't really trust myself around them for a while. Them or 'Tunia. I couldn't even be in the same room as them or any of the other kids for weeks. Even the adults were hard to deal with. Therapy helped." He paused, then coughed softly. "They're a good kid. I don't know what I would've done if they…" he went quiet.

Clover packed this all into a little box and shoved it into the dark corners of their brain closet. Putunia frowned deeply.

Kamal made a quiet sound, thoughtful. "... You really are different, aren't you?" He laughed softly. "I mean… The past is the past. It happened, we can't change it. And if you're really working to get better, then… I'm around. If you need me, or anything. I think…" he paused, tittering. "After all this time, I think I forgive you."

Putunia grinned at them, and they smiled back, getting up and leading her out.

"Mission accomplished," she said with a wide smile, skipping along.

" _ Yeah. _ " There was a long pause. Clover tapped on their arms. " _ Let's go get hot cocoa. _ " Putunia nodded softly, smile slightly dampened. But they did it, didn't they?

Clover took them to get drinks at the cafe, and then told Kamal where they were only when he asked after them about an hour or two later. He and Habit picked them up together, seeming much less awkward now (thank God), and Clover and Kamal dropped the other two off at their house with 'goodbyes' and a 'we should do this again sometime' from Kamal to Habit.

And then they went home.

Clover was exhausted, sticking close to Kamal and curling a hand around his. He smiled softly down at them, nudging them. "Tuckered out?" He asked fondly. They nodded, yawning. Kamal let them lean on him. "You know…" Kamal bit his inner cheek, humming. "... I'm really lucky to have such a smart, empathetic kid. I hope you know that." Clover smiled, turning a sleepy gaze up to him as he unlocked their front door. "You do need better acting, though. Sheesh." Clover let out a small laugh.

Once they were inside, Kamal took them to their room and tucked them in. "Goodnight, Clover," he mumbled, smiling gently.

"Goodnight, dad," Clover mumbled slowly back. Kamal beamed, ruffled their hair, and headed out of the room, flicking the light switch on the way out.

Today was a good day.

Clover fell asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> the secondhand embarrassment was there even for me
> 
> i didn't want to get Too explicit with the big event stuff but like... i just want it to be understood that clover was in a bad way when they got out and kamal had to see that. and like that's His kid. he wasn't necessarily mad but he was very very hurt by the whole thing
> 
> title is from deadlock by go! child, obligatorily


End file.
